WASHINGTON, DC (April 22, 2013) – Today, the BlueGreen Alliance congratulates 64 schools and 14 school districts across the country for being honored as Green Ribbon Schools award recipients. The Green Ribbon Schools honors were awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency. The full list of award recipients is available here. The following is a statement from BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster:

“Green Ribbon Schools and the well-rounded educations they are providing to students across the country are vital to our collective future. Apart from educating our students about the effects of climate change, greening our schools provides a tremendous opportunity to create jobs in our communities and reduce energy and water waste in the most important buildings in our communities.

“These schools and their students come from diverse areas of the country and economic means. Over 50 percent of the schools honored are in underserved areas and are located in 29 states and the District of Columbia.

“Empowering today’s students to be engaged in addressing climate change and becoming more energy and water efficient means they will be working in the jobs of tomorrow that reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies, find new and innovative ways to harness renewable energy and curb greenhouse gas emissions. Congratulations to all of the 78 award honorees for a job well done.”